Congress should renew FirstNet to prepare for the next catastrophe

Decision makers, in the aftermath of a catastrophe, often feel obliged to put pen to paper in order to help ensure that the same thing does not happen twice. This urge to heed the battle cry of “Do something!”, while well-intended, has frequently led to terrible decision-making by government officials. But after Sept. 11, it led to a genuinely impressive change: the creation of the First Responder Network Authority, often shortened to FirstNet.

Sept. 11 saw emergency services from around the country volunteer to play a role in saving lives. But it also bore unfortunate witness to the fact that there was not, at the time, any platform to aid interoperability between state-based first responders.

It took years — almost a decade — to finalize a plan, but the hard work paid off with FirstNet’s establishment in 2012, as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. Since then, FirstNet has operated as a self-described “’fast lane’ for public safety,” ensuring that first responders’ communications are prioritized. It also provides special online applications for information sharing, location services, and more.

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